Method of molding hollow concrete building units



"Mimi 321 .1, .3.

June 22, 1948. F. v. PELATOWSKI 2,443,961

METHODOF MOLDING HOLLOW CONCRETE BUILDING um ws Filed May 17,1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ki l June 22, 1948. F. v. PELATOWSKI METHOD OF MOLDING HOLLOW CONCRETE BUILDING UNITS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 17, 1946 A a z; v

Patented June 22, 1948 'METHOD OF MOLDING HOLLOW CONCRETE BUILDING UNITS Frank VIPelatowski, New Haven, Conn.

Application May 17, 1946; Serial No. 670,394

3 Claims.

This invention relates building unit, such as a wall or foundation panel, andto a method of making the same. The unit to which the invention is applied in the present disclosure comprises two wall plates or slabs secured together inspaced relation, theentire structure being of concrete and of unitary-formation so that it will bemonolithic in character.

In the-past, building units ofa somewhatsimilar construction have beenmade, these units consisting of a pair of spaced wall' members or slabs held in spaced relation by metal rods or beams extending across the space between the slabs. The use of metallic members to connect the two walls or slabs together and holdthem securely in spaced relation has certain disadvantages; and it is, therefore-desirable to construct the-entire unit, including the connecting members, integrally. 1

I contemplate by the present invention the constructionof a building'unit "which may be made to improvements in a L.

Fig. 3 is atop-1 plan view of the unit;

Fig. ills sectional view'on line 4-4 of Figs 1; Fig; 5 is asectional view on-line 55 of Fig. 1; Fig. dis a sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig.1; Fig. '7' is a topplan view ofthe form or mold 5 inwhich the unit is formed;

of concrete or similar material and w'h'ich shall consist of two spaced slabs or walls connected together by concrete spacing or partition members, the entire unit being formed'in a substantially continuous molding operation. This result is effected by means of using an interior form or core of sand, thesandbeing held in position by some cheap and light material, such as paper,

which may, when the sand is poured from' the" panel after the latter has set,'clin'g to the interior of the panel without harm to the finishedstructure and without appreciable cost. That is, the

sand formor core will be held in proper positionby the paper but may be poured from the finished- 'Afurther object of I the invention is to providea new and improved method for constructing and forming a building unit of the character described.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a method of constructing a building unit of the character described which will 'beeconomical to practice and which, at the same time, will produce an article of superior construction.

To these and other ends-'theinvention consists in-Ethe novelfeatures and. combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed;

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig 1 is a frontplan viewxof a building tinit embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

Fig. '8 is a sectional view on line 8-8 of Figfll;

Fig. 9 is aview similar to Fig. 8, but illustrating the form after the firststep in-the pouring process;

Figs. lllancl 11 are1sectional viewssimilar to Fig' 9', showing further-steps" in the process of forming the building unit;

Fig. l2'is a viewsimilarto Fig; 7 at a iurther stage in the forming process;

Fig. 13 isa sectional view on line li -l3 of Fig. 12:; and

Fig, 14'is a sectionalyie'wsimilartoFigs. 8 to 11, but showing the c'ompleted panel before its removal from the form 'or mold;

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I have shown a concrete panel or building unit comprising front andrear slabs it! and H these slab's'being secured-together in spaced relation by members i H. also formed of concrete and integrally joined to the members it and H.

While the building unit may be made in any desired'dimensi'ons; I, have illustrated it as comprising a wall panel of an appropriate size, such as 8? X 4', for example, each of the slabs land I I being approximately? inches thick. The connecting members or ribs I2 maybe substantially finches. wide and Zinches thick, the width being i shown in Fig. 2, so that the slabs Ill and I! will be spaced 4 inches apart, the unit having an over-all thickness of 8 inches. As shown in Fig. 4, for example, suitable reinforcing elements 13 may be embedded in eachof the slabs HI and l l, and also the ribs [2 maycontain similar reinforcement M. Any suitable reinforcement may beemployed, but Ihavetfound that a6" 2: 6," mesh wire reinforcement is suitable for thepurpose.

Inconstructingt the building unit, I employ a form or moldshownin Figs. 7 to 14. The principal part of the mold may consist of a rectangular framecomprisingendmembers hand side members ll, these-members being secured togethcr so as to providean -internal form having the length andwidth-of the finished unit. Each of these side -and'edgemembers will be substantially S'inches :in height or equal to the=thicl nessoi the finished unit, and to the inner sur face of ea'chot these members is'seculed an inwardly projecting member i3 substantially i" x-4".incross-'sectional size; These members; as shown in Fig. 8, are secured substantially centrally of the height of the members it and ll so as to leave a 2 inch space above and below 3 or a space equal to the thickness of the slabs l and H.

It may here be noted that, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the spacing ribs 12 are positioned inwardly from the edges of the finished panel or unit, both at the sides and ends thereof. As shown, each of these members I2 is substantially 4 inches from the side edges of the finished unit,

while the ends of the ribs are spaced inwardly substantially the same distance as the ends of the unit. It will be obvious that as the description proceeds this inward spacing of the members i2 is effected by the members l8 which extend entirely around the form.

As shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the form thus constructed is placed upon a flat surface l9, and concrete is poured therein up to the level of the lower faces of the members 18, as shown at 20 in Fig. 9. The reinforcement I3 may be embedded in this lower slab or panel during this operation.

After the completion of the operation shown in Fig. 9, a pair of form members 2! (Fig. 10) are placed lengthwise of the form directly against the members l8. These members will be the same height as the members I8 and will be of the width desired for the ribs I2. As shown, the members 2| are substantially 2 inches wide, but they may be made 4 inches'wide, for example, if it is desired to make the ribs l2 4 inches in width. The members 2| likewise will extend longitudinally between the members I8 at the ends of the form, and as will be explained hereinafter these members are later removed so as to provide the spaces within which, the concrete forming the rib members is poured.

Next, a mold-forming material, such as strong paper or building paper, for example, 22 is laid upon the concrete 20, as shown in Fig. 10, and is folded upwardly over the inside faces of the members 2| and then outwardly. It will be understood that this paper covers the upper face of the concrete in the form between the two members 2!. This space is then filled with some granular material, such as moist sand 23, up to the level of the members 2|. The edges of the papers 22 are then brought together over this sand and clinched or otherwise secured together, as shown at 24 in Fig. 11. The members 2! may now be removed, as shown in Fig. 11, leaving the sand form 23 held in position by the binding paper 22 which rests upon the upper surface of the slab which has already been poured. The form is now ready for the completion of the pouring operation.

The reinforcements M of the ribs may now be placed in the spaces 25, which spaces have been left by the removal of the form members 2 I, and this reinforcement may be pushed downwardly into the soft concrete 2!] so as to firmly bind the ribs to both of the slabs. When this has been done, the remainder of the concrete is then poured up to the top of the mold, the reinforcement l3 being placed in the upper slab during this process. The completion of the process is shown in Fig. 14, where it will be seen that the form has been completely filled and that there has been formed the building unit consisting of the spaced upper and lower slabs connected together by the spacing ribs l2. It will be noted from Figs. 13 and 14 that these ribs will be spaced by the members [8 from the edges of the slabs, thus permitting the joining of one unit to an adjacent unit when the units are assembled to form a wall.

It will also be apparent that, as the process is continuous, the resulting unit will be of monolithic construction with the parts firmly bound together and suitably reinforced so that there will be 5 produced a unit satisfactory in every particular.

After the completion of the pouring, as shown in Fig. 14, the form members 16 and I! are withdrawn laterally from the completed unit after the latter has set. The unit may now be upended 10 and the-sand 23 poured therefrom, thus leaving a hollow space in the hole of the unit between the ribs l2. :.The paper 22 will, in most instances, cling to, the interior surface of the unit and will improve the moistureproof properties thereof. In

5 this way, the sand mold or core may be readily formed and removed without the necessity of employing any expensive material to make the containing form for the sand and without having to remove this material from the completed unit.

29 While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention and a preferred method of producing the same, it is to be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown or to the exact steps described, but g is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. The method of forming, of concrete or sim- 3911a! material, a building unit having a pair of spaced flat slabs, which comprises constructing a rectangular form having members projecting inwardly from the side walls thereof an d'spaced from the upper and lower edges of the walls, fill- 3:5,ing said form with concrete up to the lower faces of said members to form one of said slabs, placing a sheet of relativel'ythin flexible material on the slab thus formed with the edge portions of the sheet overlying the sides of the form, placing idgranular material upon the sheet, bringing the edge portions of the sheet together over the granular material to hold it in compact form and provide a core spaced from said members, and then filling the form with concrete to form the 45. second slab above said core and ribs in the spaces between the core and said members.

2. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein spacing elements are placed against said members after said first slab is poured and removed after said core has been formed to space the core from said members and provide spaces for the ribs joining the two slabs together.

3. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein spacing elements are placed against said members 5 after said first slab is poured and removed after said core has been formed to space the core from said members and provide spaces for the ribs joining the two slabs together, and wherein additional inwardly projecting members are also providing on the end walls of the form to space the ribs from the end edges of the unit.

FRANK V. PELATOWSKI.

REFERENCES CITED file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Duchemin Mar. 1, 1927 The following references are of record in the 

